Fate/Magus Path

5 Chance

"Well done, Master. Your performance surprised me a bit. I didn't expect an ordinary person to hold out this long."

After quickly dispatching the large enemy force, the Count turned around and saw the two skeleton soldiers lying next to Roy. He couldn't help but offer praise.

"At first, I was a bit concerned, seeing that you're just an ordinary person without magic circuits. Looks like I was worrying for nothing."

"Heh, I'm an ordinary person... Sorry to disappoint you."

Resting against the wall for a while, Roy managed to recover some of the stamina he had just exhausted, enough to catch his breath for a moment.

At the same time, his fear of the hidden world grew deeper. If just a few skeleton soldiers could put him in such a miserable state, what kind of power could those higher-level phantasmal species or magus wield?

His knowledge of magus was only based on fragmented memories, and he had only been wary of the Servants. Now, he realized how wrong he had been. For someone like him, the threat posed by those powerful magus was no less than that of the Servants.

"Sigh..."

Glancing at the now empty handgun in his hand, he couldn't help but sigh.

Are the weapons of the surface world really so powerless against the magecraft of the hidden world?

In this confused and disoriented state, he feared that if he didn't die in the Prison Tower, he'd perish in the Fourth Holy Grail War.

"..."

Calming his mind, Roy stretched his joints briefly before turning to the Count. "The end of the first level... that's where you said the Judgment Hall is, right?"

"That's right. At the end of this corridor lies the Judgment Hall, which holds the Sin of Envy."

"So, there must be some sort of guardian at the first trial, right? What is it? A Servant, or some kind of phantasmal species?"

"That..."

The Count shook his head. "I don't know either. You'll have to see for yourself once you get there."

"See for myself? So, the guardian isn't fixed... it changes based on my memories and psyche?"

"Krahahaha, sharp as ever! That's right, I don't know the guardian's identity. It depends on you, the challenger. Right now, you are the one challenging this Hell Tower!"

"Oh, shut up, Count. Can you stop being so dramatic all of a sudden? Be quiet. Why are you shouting so loudly?"

Hearing the Count's sudden outburst of demonic laughter, Roy still found it hard to get used to. In such a dire situation, his heart wasn't strong enough to make him laugh. He was already doing his best to hold back tears.

A dimension traveler?

But still just an ordinary person.

"You're no fun, Master." The Count quickly calmed down and looked at the still composed Roy, unable to help but ask.

"Aren't you even a little excited? Unveiling hidden truths, defeating the guardian enemies, fighting with all your might for survival... this is the heroic tale of sin and redemption!"

"..."

When they were outside, the Count had at least suppressed his true nature while interacting with Roy. But here in the Prison Tower, he had fully let loose. Why did he have so much inner drama?

In this situation, anyone else wouldn't be able to laugh either.

Roy's face twitched slightly, but he forced himself to respond. "Excited? Of course, I'm motivated to fight with you for survival. I'm just not very good at expressing it."